A quick note for London-based subscribers. I'll be speaking alongside some excellent people on a panel about how the world views the U.S. in the age of Trump next Tuesday 22 September. The event, which is in celebration of The Dial's new book "How We See It", is at the Frontline Club.

You can get tickets here.

Would be great to see some Proximities readers there!

Sudan

At least 87 people were killed when a gold mine collapsed in Sudan, local sources said, with others trapped under the rubble. Locals told Reuters that while miners had dug through the night trying to rescue their colleagues, their efforts were hampered by a lack of heavy equipment. The mine is located in West Kordofan state, an area controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group, which has been at war with Sudan’s military for more than three years. The RSF is widely reported to be backed by the United Arab Emirates, which has been accused of smuggling gold out of the country. Though Sudan is one of the world’s biggest gold producers, thousands of mines are small-scale or informal with lax safety standards. Collapses are a common occurrence.

More from Al Jazeera here.

Philippines

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte today appeared for the first time in person at the International Criminal Court, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity related to the so-called war on drugs during his time in office. Dressed in a black suit and white shirt, Duterte did not speak during proceedings that mostly covered scheduling concerns ahead of the trial’s start in November, but he did smile and wave to supporters. Lawyers for the 81-year-old failed to have the case thrown out after arguing he could not take part on health grounds and that he had cognitive issues. Estimates of the number killed by police and hit squads under the anti-drug crackdown range from the more than 6,000 reported by the police force to up to 30,000 in tallies from rights groups.

More from AP here.

Turkey

Eight members of LGBTQ+ rights group 4Kaos GL have been jailed in Turkey as a crackdown on the community escalates, their lawyers said. Seven other activists with the organization, including a journalist, were released under judicial supervision. The arrests, which court documents said were over facilitating the publication of obscene material, are the latest incident in an operation against the LGBTQ+ community that the government has dubbed "My Family is Safe," claiming it is aimed at protecting children and family values. At least 54 others were jailed after raids across the country, and at least 126 people were arrested on Tuesday during protests against the operation in Ankara and Istanbul.

More from Reuters here.

Some (very tentative) positive news from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The U.N. today said it was starting to see some good signs in the fight against the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, which has already killed a confirmed 3,510 people, according to government figures, with the true toll likely to be higher. "It remains a deadly and a massive epidemic. There ‌are some areas of progress, but nonetheless, in other areas, we continue to see growth in cases," Julien Harneis, the U.N. special Ebola coordinator, said. Harneis’s comments came after DRC Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said over the weekend that there were "encouraging signs" and a peak may have been reached.

More from Reuters here.

Gaza

Israel is showing “no respect for the dead” with its ongoing bulldozing of Gaza’s ruins and is hindering Palestinian efforts to recover bodies under the rubble, most of them women and children, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said. “The remains of what appears to be entire families are now being unearthed at locations that were pulverized by Israeli attacks. It is heartbreaking that the loved ones of those missing for so long are only now having their worst fears confirmed,” Türk said, adding that the clearance was destroying evidence of potential war crimes. “These attacks must be effectively investigated … I urge all States to press for greater cooperation and coordination to ensure the recovery of bodies across all of Gaza in a dignified and humane way.”

More from the U.N. here.

South Africa

Police in South Africa have issued a public warning after the body of a murdered woman was found in the same area east of Johannesburg where six other women have been discovered dead in the past two months. The South African Police Service said women should be careful when undertaking activities outside such as jogging. While stopping short of saying the murders were the work of a serial killer, police said the cases appeared to be linked and that "the similarities are sufficiently concerning.” The murders have reignited a debate over women’s safety in a country with high rates of gender-based violence. “Women should not have to be killed before an area receives heightened attention,” Javu Bali, spokesperson for South Africa’s Commission for Gender Equality, said.

More from AP here.

Voting has begun in the southern Philippines’ Muslim-majority Bangsamoro region in a historic poll seen as a test of long-lasting peace after years of secessionist conflict. The parliamentary election is the culmination of a 2014 peace deal that ended a war between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which fought a decades-long campaign for an independent Muslim state in the mostly Catholic nation. A subsequent law granted more autonomy and economic powers to the region, and a transitional parliament was appointed in 2019. More than 120,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the conflict.

More from Reuters here.

Niger

Niger’s ruling junta has appointed a new military chief two weeks after a deadly mutiny shook a government already pressed by an escalating insurgency. In a decree read on state television, junta leader Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani named Brig. Gen. Mamane Sani Kiaou, who previously led the army, chief of staff of the armed forces. Presidential guard troops struggled to put the 24-hour mutiny down until Russia’s Africa Corps intervened with air and ground support. The mutineers were angered by growing violence in the war against the rebel groups and conditions in the army. Tchiani justified the 2023 coup that brought him to power by criticizing the then civilian government’s failure to defeat the insurgents, but the situation has deteriorated since the junta took over.

More from AP here.

Libya

Libyan authorities have seized around 100,000 ecstasy pills shipped from Europe, which were imprinted with the face of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, according to a government security agency in the capital Tripoli. Photographs were released showing sacks of brown pills fashioned into the shape of the late ruler’s head and shoulders, with his distinctive face and robes pressed into the surface. Libya, which has been in chaos since Gaddafi was toppled in 2011 and currently has two rival administrations, is a major transit point for synthetic drugs and other narcotics that are smuggled in for both local consumption and onward shipment to North African countries and the wider continent.

More from The Libya Observer here.

At least 26 children were killed when a fire swept through two schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said. Nineteen girls and seven boys died in the blaze in the city of Bukavu, and 29 people were being treated at medical facilities, the M23 rebel group, which controls the city, said. The cause of the fire is not yet known, but neighborhood administrator Moise Lubala told AP that the area was densely populated and made up of mostly wooden buildings. Eastern DRC is the center of a long-running war between government-aligned forces, the M23 and other armed groups. It is also suffering the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, with more than 3,300 people confirmed dead.

More from Sky News here.

Morocco

Morocco has denied any involvement in the crossing of more than 70,000 people from its territory into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in July. Most of those who crossed have since returned to Morocco. Spanish opposition parties have rounded on the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and accused Morocco of orchestrating or allowing the crossing. “Why continue to level accusations against Morocco when no evidence, facts, or reports establish any involvement on the part of Moroccan authorities?” the Moroccan foreign ministry said in a statement, adding it refused to be used as a “pre-election political pawn.”

More from Al Jazeera here.

Gaza

A top Hamas commander has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, according to the Israeli military and Hamas. In a statement, the armed wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed the death of Mohammed Abdel ​Salam al-Yazouri. Israel said it had killed two other Hamas commanders in the attack, while Hamas made no comment. Israel has killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, in Gaza since agreeing an ostensible ceasefire with Hamas in October of last year. The deal stipulated that targeted attacks were to stop.

More from Reuters here.

Almost 1,000 people have died due to a measles epidemic in Bangladesh, according to new government figures, as the country battles its worst outbreak of the illness on record. Since the outbreak emerged in March, there have been more than 166,000 suspected cases, including 19,835 laboratory-confirmed infections, the Health Ministry data showed. The prolonged epidemic is partly down to disruption to immunization programs in 2024 - 2025 caused by political turmoil unleashed by youth-led protests that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh was once believed to have all but eradicated measles.

More from Reuters here.

Gambia

Gambian President Adama Barrow has pledged to boost energy supplies after protesters, angered by prolonged power cuts, burned tires and built barricades in the capital Banjul, demanding his resignation. Blackouts have plagued Gambia since June and have hit some areas for up to 48 hours in the middle of the country’s hot season. Barrow, who will run for a third term in December, has called the shortage a “national security issue” and promised that the government will install a 24-megawatt generator at a power station by the end of October.

More from Al Jazeera here.

Tunisia

Tunisian journalists have taken to the streets to protest the arrest of a reporter on money-laundering charges that his lawyers and supporters say are bogus. Mohamed Yousfi, editor-in-chief of the Alqatiba website, was detained on Friday when arriving for a radio interview, local reports said. The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists said at a press conference that Yousfi’s health has deteriorated and that he underwent surgery for appendicitis after his arrest. Tunisia emerged from the Arab uprisings of 2011 with a new democracy but President Kais Saied consolidated executive power in 2021, launching a sweeping crackdown against opponents and civil society.

More from The New Arab here.

Good to be back from my break.

Barry.

Gaza

Israel’s ongoing clearance of rubble in Gaza left behind by its destruction of the Palestinian enclave over the last three years could cover up “atrocity crimes” and prevent the recovery of bodies, a U.N. expert said. Sixty-one million tonnes of debris now litter Gaza, and 82 percent of all structures have been damaged or destroyed in Israel’s onslaught. It is estimated it will take seven years to clear. "In devastated Gaza, rubble is not just ​construction waste. It is part of a crime scene, a graveyard, and the material record of what happened during a brutal ​and senseless bombing campaign that lasted two years,” Francesca Albanese said.

More from Reuters here.

DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is tightening control over its geological data, with competition between China and the U.S. for a slice of its multibillion-dollar critical mineral supplies market intensifying. The government has signed a $180 million contract with Spanish company Xcalibur, a global leader in geodata mapping, to digitize historical geological records and build a national database of critical mineral resources. It will then charge for access to the data, according to reports, arguing that geological information is strategic national infrastructure. Despite holding massive deposits of copper, cobalt, lithium, tantalum and gold, DRC is one of the world’s least-explored major mining nations.

More from Africa News here.

North Korea

North Korea and Russia have called the opening of a road bridge between the two a symbol of friendship as the Western-sanctioned nations continue to strengthen diplomatic and military ties that have grown in recent years. The neighbors already had direct rail and air routes, but some 300 vehicles a day will be able to cross the new bridge, according to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, and it will link directly to Russia’s federal road network. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been increasingly successful at deepening ties with Russia and China in the face of frosty relations with South Korea and the U.S. Pyongyang has sent an estimated 14,000 troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russian forces there.

More from EuroNews here.

Hope you’re well.

Here is my first attempt at a Q&A for you. As I say in the video, it’s been incredible to see so many great questions come in. Thank you.

I spoke for longer than I intended as I am prone to waffling!

So below are the six questions I chose to answer and the timecode for each one. That way you don’t have to put up …

Read more

Just dropping a line to let you know that Proximities will be taking a (late) summer break of two weeks from today to Monday Sept 7.

All the best,

Barry.

Hope you’re well.

Just dropping a line to let you know that series one of The Proximities Podcast has concluded. It’s been great to get so much support from all of you, and I’ve been really honoured by the guests who’ve agreed to come on.

You can find episodes you missed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Series two is coming soon with a refreshed format that will continue to amplify the stories that deserve more attention.

Thanks again,

Barry.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is growing “exponentially,” with the fight against it unable to keep up and the virus in danger of spilling into neighboring countries, the U.N.’s senior Ebola coordinator said today. “The epidemic is spreading widely. It’s now covering an area that is bigger than France,” Julien Harneis said, adding that half of the 2,500 deaths had been reported in just the last 20 days. The response to the outbreak, which was caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus for which there is no vaccine, has been hampered by challenges, including the epicenter’s location in a conflict zone.

More from DW here.

Listen to/watch The Proximities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Pakistan

Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan would not confront the country’s military or army chief if freed from prison, a close aide told Reuters in an interview. Khan, who was returned to prison today after briefly being brought to hospital following a court order, was jailed in 2023 after falling out with the military. The remarks from Zulfikar Bukhari, spokesman for Khan’s PTI party, appeared to publicly signal a shift in stance and a willingness to reconcile with army chief Asim Munir, who Khan has previously called “mentally unstable.”

More from Reuters here.

Bangladesh

No decision has been made on whether Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will visit India, his press secretary said, contradicting Indian media reports that Rahman will be visiting New Delhi from August 23 to 25. A trip would be seen as significant, given that Bangladesh’s toppled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled into exile in India after she was ousted in a youth-led street uprising in 2024. Bangladesh has sentenced the former prime minister to death in absentia for ordering a crackdown on the protests, but the 78-year-old has vowed to return to the country in December, saying death doesn’t scare her.

More from Reuters here.

A former cabinet minister was shot dead in Zambia when security forces raided the home of opposition leader Brian Mundubile a day after the August 13 presidential election, police revealed in a statement today. Mutotwe Kafwaya, 49, an opposition MP who had previously been works minister and later transport minister, was killed in the operation, which the government said was aimed at dismantling a militia that posed "a serious threat to State security." President Hakainde Hichilema won a second term in the election, with about 60 percent of the vote, but Mundubile says his NRPUP party has discovered “serious irregularities.” Zambia has largely been a stable democracy since 1991.

More from Africa News here.

Listen to/watch The Proximities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Syria

Israel and Turkey are trading barbs two days after Israel bombed a Syrian airbase where it said Turkish troops were about to deploy. Israel accused Turkey of “dangerous adventures in Syria,” while Turkey shot back that Israel should cease its “reckless” attacks. The row underlines increasing regional competition between Tel Aviv and Ankara, with Israel worried about Turkey’s influence over Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa since a lightning rebel offensive on the capital Damascus toppled then-President Bashar al-Assad after 14 years of civil war.

More from Reuters here.

DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fighting the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, is to receive 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine for the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Though the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no vaccine, is responsible for the epidemic, there are early indications that Ervebo may have some impact. “It is not known whether Ervebo may ​be protective against the Bundibugyo virus in humans,” WHO said, adding clinical trials would provide new evidence. Some 2,476 people are confirmed to have died so far, according to local health authorities.

More from AP here.

The death toll from the collapse of a gold mine in the Central African Republic (CAR) has risen to more than 100 people, according to officials and the Red Cross. An investigation has begun to determine the cause of the disaster, identify victims and establish potential criminal liability, the prosecutor’s office in the Baboua sub-prefecture, where the incident took place, said. The number of deaths was likely to rise, Bertrand Be Yangué, a member of the local youth council, said. “Finding them alive would be a miracle,” Yangué said. “We are saddened and heartbroken to see young men and women perish after coming to the mines to save their families from despair.” Artisanal mine collapses are common in CAR.

More from AP here.

Listen to The Proximities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong has rubbished Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s assertion that Pyongyang is about to send 50,000 more troops to fight for Russia. Zelensky made the claim on X earlier this month, calling on South Korea to provide support for his country’s air defenses. Kim Yo Jong called the Ukrainian president’s statement "groundless" and "a self-staged incident." North Korea has already sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine, as well as supplying Moscow ‌with artillery and mortar rounds, ballistic missiles, long-range artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems. Memorial services attended by Kim Jong Un have been held in Pyongyang for North Korean troops killed in the war.

More from Reuters here.

Gaza

Israeli attacks on a police station and a refugee camp in Gaza killed at least 10 people on Wednesday, reporters and officials said. The al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City said it had received nine bodies following a strike on the municipal police headquarters in the city, while at least one person was killed in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The attacks came a day after Israeli drone strikes on a seaside café killed seven people, including a child, the force of the explosion throwing people into the sea. Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire in October but Israel has repeatedly violated it, killing at least 1,273 people since it was signed.

More from Al Jazeera here.

At least seven people, including a child, have been killed in an Israeli drone attack on a cafe in Gaza. One of the bodies was so mutilated it couldn’t be identified, health officials said, believing the victim was directly hit by a missile. Al Jazeera reported that the force of the strike threw people into the sea from the portside “Sweet and Bitter” cafe, meaning the death toll could be higher. The Israeli military said it had targeted several “Hamas commanders” without providing evidence. Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire in October but Israel has repeatedly violated the truce, killing at least 1,265 people since it was signed.

More from Middle East Eye here.

Listen to The Proximities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Liberia

Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the U.S. over the next year, with the first group of 20 to arrive on Thursday, the government said. The deal is the latest in a series of similar agreements that President Donald Trump has struck with African nations, ⁠including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone, to take in people Washington cannot legally send to their home countries. The terms of the deals often remain secret, but Liberia said there would be no “quid pro ​quo” with the U.S. and that the gesture was humanitarian. The deportees, who will include nationals from Africa, South America and the Caribbean, can seek asylum in Liberia or “can leave the country whenever they desire,” Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said.

More from AP here.

China

Security was visibly tightened in China’s capital Beijing as the funeral of former Premier Zhu Rongji was held. Ninety-seven-year-old Zhu, who died of an illness last week, was considered an influential reformer who set China on the path to economic development. His cremation was attended by President Xi Jinping but kept deliberately discreet with no footage released. China sees deaths of former leaders and senior officials as potential flashpoints for unrest and anger toward the government of the day. In 1989, the death of Hu Yaobang, a former Chinese Communist Party general secretary believed to favor political reform, prompted an outpouring of grief that culminated in the Tiananmen Square massacre.

More from BBC here.

Attacks on healthcare facilities, staff and patients in conflict zones averaged four a day this year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine accounted for the majority of incidents, but there were also attacks ​in countries including Iran, Sudan, Myanmar, Syria, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All 36 hospitals in Gaza have been damaged in Israeli attacks and only about ​half are partially functional. In Sudan, 37 percent of health facilities are non-functioning. "An ‌attack on ⁠healthcare does not end when an attack gets verified,” Altaf Musani, WHO director of humanitarian and disaster management, said. "It is the patient who cannot receive healthcare tomorrow. It is the ambulance that cannot make the next referral."

More from Reuters here.

Listen to The Proximities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

China

China’s defense ministry has dismissed Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military drills as a "wasteful charade" that "stoked ​war panic." Taiwan, a democratically run island that Beijing claims as part of its territory, has spent 10 days carrying out exercises that rehearse various scenarios should China invade. The Chinese have been steadily increasing military intimidation toward Taiwan, sending vessels and planes into its seas and airspace almost daily. While Beijing has said it wants “peaceful reunification,” it often threatens the use of force.

More from Internazionale here.

Vietnam

Authorities in Vietnam have uncovered more than a ton of smuggled ivory, which they said was shipped from an unspecified African country. The seizure of 221 pieces of elephant ivory weighing 1,193 kilograms was displayed to the media at Quy Nhơn port in the central province of Gia Lai. Police told reporters it had been concealed in sawn timber. Vietnam is a major hub for the illicit trade of wildlife, dead or alive, with much of it destined for China. The cargo also contained 79.3 kilograms of bones that local reports said came from big cats such as tigers. Crushed animal bones are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

More from AP here

On a recent episode of The Proximities Podcast, I spoke with Taiwanese-American writer and professor Michelle Kuo. We covered Taiwan-China relations and her experience taking part in civil defense drills.. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Pregnant women and babies are dying in Nepal due to President Donald Trump’s sudden slashing of U.S. foreign aid, AP reporting has found. Trump quickly eliminated the United States Agency for International Development at the start of his second term, gutting maternal and child health programs worldwide and decimating nutrition programs for millions of children and pregnant women. The Gates Foundation has predicted that because of global aid cuts, 2025 will be the first year this century in which child deaths will increase.

More from AP here.

Listen to The Proximities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Gaza

Cancer patients in Gaza are dying at up to three times the rate they did before Oct. 7, 2023, doctors said, as Israel blocks people from traveling abroad for treatment having destroyed the enclave’s only specialist cancer hospital. The Israeli army blew up the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, saying Hamas had built a tunnel under it. Few people can afford to leave Gaza for medical help, but under the terms of an ostensible ceasefire agreed in October, Israel is supposed to coordinate medical evacuations with the U.N. Local officials, though, say far fewer patients than expected have been given permission.

More from Reuters here.

Zambia

Zambians voted today in a presidential election that is expected to return President Hakainde Hichilema to power for a second term after a campaign in which he emphasized economic progress since a ‌pandemic-era debt crisis. Backed by an alliance of parties, first-time candidate Brian Mundubile, a 55-year-old former minister, emerged as Hichilema’s main rival, but despite drawing large crowds to his rallies, he is predicted to fall short. Though economic indicators such as growth have achieved strong numbers in recent years, many Zambians are frustrated by the cost of living amid high food and energy prices.

More from Africa News here.

The Taliban has locked about 2.4 million girls out of secondary education since introducing a ban when it returned to power in 2021, according to the U.N. The figure could rise to nearly 4 million by 2030 if the ban remains in place, UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, said. Despite promising it would respect women’s rights when it formed a government, the Taliban has put limits on female employment and barred women from public parks, gyms and beauty salons, effectively erasing them from public life.

More from DW here.

On a recent episode of The Proximities Podcast, I spoke to journalists Zahra Joya and Amie Ferris-Rotman about their new book “The Vanishing Girl of Kabul.” Zahra, the founder of a women-led news organization, fled Afghanistan after the Taliban threatened her life. Our conversation is on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here and YouTube here.

Sudan

The bodies of 25 civilians have been found in a mass grave a month after the Sudanese military recaptured a town from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group. The dead included women, children and health workers, Abdel Aty Mohamed al-Faki, the commissioner of the town of Kurmuk, said. In March, Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the war, said the RSF looted health facilities in Kurmuk, destroyed its main hospital and assaulted medical workers. The militia, which has been at war with Sudan’s military-led government for more than three years, has been accused of committing a string of war crimes, including carrying out genocidal acts after capturing the city of el-Fasher.

More from the New Arab here.

North Korea

North Korea has launched its second ballistic missile in a week after the U.S. and South Korea announced plans for their annual joint military drills. The Japanese and South Korean militaries said the rocket flew more than 700 km before landing in the Sea of Japan. The Ulchi Freedom Shield drills will begin on August 17 and continue for 11 days, with 18,000 South Korean soldiers taking part, Seoul said. Pyongyang says the drills are a rehearsal for an invasion, often responding with missile tests, while Washington and Seoul insist they are defensive.

More from Al Jazeera here.

Here I am again with the latest worrying numbers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record continues to spread. Out of a total of 4,381 confirmed cases, 2,011 people have died, according to government data published overnight, marking another grim milestone. It took about nine weeks for the outbreak to reach 1,000 deaths, but it’s taken just three weeks for that figure to double. The epidemic is already the second worst of all time after the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that killed more than 11,000. The response has been hampered by the fact that there is no approved vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has caused the crisis.

More from AP here.

Regarding my regular reporting of the numbers, on a recent episode of The Proximities Podcast, Dr. Abdou Sebushishe, currently on the Ebola frontlines in Ituri province, pointed out that there are real people behind the death tolls that are coldly reported in the news media. He told us about some of those people in a moving conversation you can listen to on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here and YouTube here.

Taiwan

The Chinese and Indonesian navies are to hold a drill together in waters to the ​east of Taiwan this month as Beijing continues a campaign of intimidation against Taipei. In June, China rang alarm bells when it began coast guard patrols off the east coat of Taiwan, which it views as its own territory. "The exercise will focus ​on communication drills and at-sea replenishment, aiming to enhance the joint operational ‌capabilities ⁠of the two navies, deepen practical cooperation, and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability," China’s defense ministry said.

More from Reuters here.

Syria

Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher al-Assad, both living in exile in Russia, have been sentenced to death by a Damascus court for crimes against humanity committed during the country’s 14-year civil war. A cousin, Atef Najib, who is in custody in Syria, also received a death sentence. Assad, who fled in the face of a lightning rebel offensive in 2024, was found guilty of premeditated murder, torture and crimes against humanity. Najib, the former head of political security in Deraa province, was convicted of murder, “the intentional killing of children under 15” and “torture leading to death.”

More from Al Jazeera here.

Police in India have used tear gas, water cannons and baton charges against thousands of young people as they protested alleged wrongdoing in civil service examinations in the eastern Jharkhand state, including the leaking of exam papers. The demonstration followed weeks of headline-grabbing protests in the capital Delhi, also over exam paper leaks, that led to the resignation of the country’s education minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month. The protesters in Jharkhand, who were marching on the state legislature in the city of Ranchi, are demanding an overhaul ​of Jharkhand’s examination system, the cancellation of some tests and an investigation by the ​federal police.

More from Reuters here.

Episode 11 of The Proximities Podcast is live. This week, I spoke to Eric Reidy, Migration & Special Coverage Editor for The New Humanitarian, to dig into what really happened in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa last week beyond the headlines. Our conversation is on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here and YouTube here.

Syria

Damascus and Moscow have come to a deal over the future of two strategic Mediterranean coastal bases in Syria, with Moscow agreeing to end its use of the facilities as military outposts. Russia was the key political and military ally of former leader Bashar al-Assad as he fought a 13-year war against armed groups of which current President Ahmed al-Sharaa was a prominent leader. Under the agreement, Syria will take control of the bases, and the military facilities at both sites will become “joint training and qualification centers.” Russia did not intervene in the lightning offensive that toppled Assad in 2024, but it did provide him and his family asylum in Moscow, where they remain.

More from France 24 here.

Senegal

Seventy-one men have been arrested in Senegal and charged with “unnatural acts,” the public prosecutor’s office said, as a crackdown on the LGBT+ community appeared to intensify. Senegal passed a harsh new anti-gay law in April that doubled to 10 years the maximum prison sentence for people engaging in same-sex relations. More than 100 people have been charged since the law was introduced, including celebrities. Analysts say that the government often uses repression of LGBT+ people as a populist attempt at drawing support.

More from Africa News here.

It’s been almost exactly a year since we published a deep dive on the war in the Sahel, which is easily one of the world’s most under-reported conflicts.

In that piece, I focused on the simultaneous insurgencies that several armed groups were waging against the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in what is known as the triangle, or the tri-border region, where the three countries meet - often dramatically described as the world’s “epicenter of terrorism”.

There have been coups in all three nations in recent years, partly justified by the failure to beat back the insurgents, and all are now run by military juntas.

While al-Qaeda- and ISIS-aligned groups had been active in the area for years, almost overthrowing Mali’s government in 2012, I wrote last year that the Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) militia was growing in strength.

I also quoted Caleb Weiss, an editor at the Long War Journal, who told Reuters: "I don't really see the regimes in Mali, Niger and Burkina holding on forever. Eventually one of them is going to fall or one of them is going to lose a substantial amount of territory, which Burkina Faso already has."

He certainly hasn’t lost that bet yet.

And while Burkina Faso was then the most fertile battleground for JNIM, Mali is now under real pressure and JNIM has found another powerful group to fight alongside. The two even launched a highly coordinated wave of simultaneous attacks in April during which Mali’s defense minister was killed.

It seems like a good time for an update on the latest news. Q&A below.

Bests,

Barry.

Episode 11 of The Proximities Podcast is now live. This week, I spoke to Eric Reidy, Migration & Special Coverage Editor for The New Humanitarian, to dig into what really happened in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa last week beyond the headlines. Our conversation is on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here and YouTube here.

So what’s been happening in Mali?

For the purposes of this update, let’s start with the startling attacks that were carried out on April 25. It’s maybe a little inaccurate to say that they were entirely unexpected. As I said, JNIM had been seeing increasing success.

But two things really stood out here:

1. JNIM wasn’t alone. It launched the attacks alongside a group called the Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a group mostly made up of members of the ethnic Tuareg minority who are fighting for an independent Tuareg state. It was the first such operation in more than a decade, and it went incredibly smoothly. It was viewed as professional and perfectly synchronized.

2. The scale and the fact the attacks hit right at the heart of Mali’s government. This assault was not confined to rebel strongholds; there were more than half a dozen simultaneous attacks. Fighters took the strategic town of Kidal. The airport in the capital Bamako was attacked. And in the biggest blow, Mali’s defense minister, Sadio Camara, was killed in a suicide attack on his home.

As mentioned in Proximities before, the Russian state-controlled Africa Corps (previously the Wagner Group) militia is also an important player, with fighters stationed in Mali to support the junta in its war against the rebels.

But it has suffered significant defeats on the battlefield and, last month, Human Rights Watch documented an air raid in which the Russians killed eight civilians.

Abuses like that can have an important impact, which I will explain below.

Are we looking at a government being toppled here?

Well, when a rebel group manages to kill your defense minister, it’s something to seriously worry about. At the very least, it’s a hell of a psychological blow and it tells Mali’s military rulers that they are not invincible and can be got to.

I should add that there is a new minister. Junta leader Gen. Assimi Goïta gave himself the job in what some saw as a sign his authority was threatened.

Most worrying for the government, though, is the alliance between JNIM and the FLA, which the groups had reportedly been negotiating for more than a year.

Read more

Episode 11 of The Proximities Podcast is now live.

This week, I spoke to Eric Reidy, Migration & Special Coverage Editor for The New Humanitarian, to dig into what really happened in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa last week.

Proximities usually covers under-reported news and, obviously, this story dominated the agenda when it happened. But I think we can also add value by providing the context that the headline news often misses.

That’s what we tried to do in this episode.

We discussed the thorny politics at play between the European Union and North African nations when it comes to migration, not only in Morocco, but in Libya and Tunisia too, where it can be argued the EU is funding appalling abuses.

Our conversation is on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here and YouTube here.

Please do like, subscribe, comment or rate depending on your platform. It really does help the stories get out there.

All the best,

Barry